FANTASTIC FOUR"This is our chance to make a difference" - Sue Storm - The Invisible Woman"He's stronger than any of us but he's not stronger than all of us" - Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic"We could these powers to help people" - Johnny Storm - The Human Torch"You can't fix this, nobody can" - Ben Grimm - The Thing

NICHOLAS HOULT REVISITS HIS ROLE AS BEAST IN THIS SPRINGíS X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. HERE, HE TALKS WITH HIS DIRECTOR, BRYAN SINGER, ABOUT QUANTUM MECHANICS, TIME TRAVEL, RELIGION, ASTROPHYSICS, AND CELEBRITY.

Many believe that truth lies in simplicity, that a thing is fully itself when reduced to its most basic. Particle physicists, string theorists, linguists, mathematicians, philosophers, even conceptual artists. Some demand empirical replicabilityóin order to confirm a discovery, the Large Hadron Collider needs 600 million collisions every second for two years. Some are more theoretical, epistemological, or aesthetic. Aldous Huxleyís Perennial Philosophy, Chomskyís transformational grammar, Kantís categorical imperative, Freudís The Ego and the Id. But they all share the sentiment that ultimate truth exists in something like a singularity, and that through this truth, we can answer the bigger question of why? A smaller question is: how could you apply this logic to a person? How could you distill an individual to his or her elemental essence? One answer: very illegally.

But say that person is Nicholas Hoult, the 24-year-old actor, who this spring revisits his role as Hank McCoy, alias Beast, in X-Men: Days of Future Past. In that case, itís completely socially acceptable (and arguably ritualistic), as analyzing an oeuvre is one of the most fascinating means to appreciate art, to say nothing of picking apart celebrities. And before you assume there couldnít be enough data on such a young man, Hoult has been acting since he was three, and has amassed a significant body of work. And it seems that there is indeed a core sentiment or fundamental force clearly evident in his twenty-plus-year career. If you were to summarize the work of Nicholas Hoult in one word, it would be ďtransformative.Ē Hoult is constantly transforming, both before the eyes of the audience and within the very characters he plays. And whether youíre inclined to argue it universalistic or merely coincidental, it is nevertheless consistently evident in the facts. So letís look at them:

Hoult starred in his first major film at the age of 12, opposite Hugh Grant in the adaptation of Nick Hornbyís About A Boy, playing Marcus, the troubled son of a suicidal mother (Toni Collette). Grantís character befriends the boy and attempts to draw him out of his introversion to engage in youth culture and develop an identity of his own. Hoult received rave reviews and awards for the Oscar-nominated film.

The next time Hoult caught the attention of the masses was for the U.K. hit series Skins. The precocious kid audiences had known was completely gone. Skins debuted in 2007, the year Hoult would turn 18, and he became a full-blown heartthrob. But the real transformation that pertains to Skins was one within his character. The show, featuring an ensemble cast that also includes later-breakout Dev Patel, is largely centered around Houltís character, Tony Stonem, a sort of extreme take on the high-school popular guy archetype: a smug, polysexual, sociopathic narcissist who gets off on his own innate intellect and finds manipulation the ultimate form of entertainment. But, in the first seasonís finale, his character entirely transforms after being hit by a bus and suffering a subdural hematoma. The second season, Hoult has to build his character from the ground up, a sort of Regarding Henry path of a sweet moron who must regain his faculties and then overcome the existential crisis of having lost his former identity while reconciling his past with his future selves. And Hoult pulls it off brilliantly, somehow maintaining the inexplicable core of his character throughout.

The film role that followed Skins was not merely another transformation for Hoult, but for the filmmaker as well. A Single Man is fashion designer Tom Fordís first foray into directing and screenwriting, and his adaptation of the Christopher Isherwood novel is a beautiful portrait of aesthetics and loneliness in 1960s Los Angeles. Hoult plays the handsome student attempting to transcend boundaries and become something more intimate to his depressed college professor, George, played by Colin Firth, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Hoult himself was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA.

After A Single Man, Hoult went from Southern California in í62 to the world of ancient Greek Mythology in Clash of the Titans, playing Eusebios, one of the finest soldiers in the Army of Argos, who accompanies Perseus on his quest and is ultimately turned to stone by Medusa. In last yearís underrated Warm Bodies, Hoult played a zombie mid-transformation, his body and behaviors like that of the undead, but his mind still clinging to human sentiments of love and anti-cannibalism.

But itís between those two roles that Hoult made his most literal transformation. In 2011ís X-Men reboot, X-Men: First Class, he took on the role of a young Hank McCoy, a mutant blessed with hyperintellegence. Through experiments stemming from his own insecurity about the physical aspects of his mutation, he accidentally magnifies them, becoming the beautiful, blue Beast. Hoult would spend hours upon hours in the makeup chair to transform into the furry, animalistic character, and itís a role he reprises this Spring in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Director Bryan Singer describes the filmówhich follows Hugh Jackmanís Wolverine as he travels back in time via his own consciousnessóas an ďinbetwequelĒ of the previous X-Men films and of First Class, on which Singer was a producer and story writer. Meaning that Future Past fuses characters past and present, combining the last filmís stellar cast (Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence, with whom Hoult is romantically involved) with Patrik Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan, and Jackman. The two franchise casts form an X-Men super group, which is likely to continue with the next X-Men: Apocalypse, also helmed by Singer. (Fun fact: Beast is one of the few mutants to be a member of both the X-Men and The Avengers so who knows where that could lead). Here, the talented, transformative Hoult speaks with Singer about being, believing, and what the future holds.

BRYAN SINGER To begin, I originally knew your work from Skins and A Single Man. Initially you were not available for the roll of Beast [in X-Men: First Class, which Singer produced]. You were going to do Mad Max and, fortunately for us, that got pushed and you were able to play the role. I only remember the decision that [director] Matthew Vaughn and I made to cast you, but I donít know how that came to you on your end.

NICHOLAS HOULT I was down in Australia starting prep on Mad Max and they told us it wasnít going to shoot that year, so I called my agent and said I needed a job. The next day I read for X-Men: First Class. Strangely, the direction I got from Matthew for that was to try one version of the scene doing an impression of Stewie Griffin from Family Guy, which I was actually quite adept at doing because Iíd wasted most of my youth away doing impressions of Stewie. That same night, I got a phone call saying ďJump on a plane, they want you to go back and screen test.Ē The next day Jen [Jennifer Lawrence] and I screen-tested together with Lauren Shuler Donner [producer] and Matthew Vaughn, and I remember being very annoyed because I had to get straight back on a plane to Australia and I didnít think I had gotten the job.

BRYAN Well, I knew you had the job because we had already made the decision. Can you give people a little background on how you got your start? Oneís beginnings can translate later into how one deals with things.

NICK The first thing I did, I was three years old. It was a play called The Caucasian Chalk Circle, but I really have no memory of that apart from doing a photo shoot for a day and being given juice and biscuits afterward. I got an agent when I was five, which is not something my parents planned. So I ended up doing a lot of British television shows between the ages of five and eleven. Thatís when the Weitz brothers were casting About a Boy, and I went in for a few auditions for that and then they picked me. So that was my lucky break. How did you enjoy shooting this last X-Men?

BRYAN This last X-Men was the most enjoyable experience Iíve had making a movie and Iím not just saying that because this is a conversation with one of our cast members. It was the fact that the cast seemed to actually be enjoying themselves. I donít know if thatís a function of the environment, the story, or just the simple fact that no one person is carrying the whole movie.

NICK I agree with you. I felt a lot more pressure when we were shooting Jack the Giant Slayer [also directed by Singer] than I had ever felt on another job, just because [as a filmís lead] youíre suddenly tryingóin an odd wayóto do more, but itís not your job as an actor to try and do more. Youíre there to make it real. But in an ensemble you feel quite safe, particularly with this cast where we could mess around and have fun. Iíve been meaning to ask about time displacement, which seems to be such a central element of this film.

BRYAN Time displacement means, in terms of the film, Wolverine [Hugh Jackman] of the future travels back in time, into the mind of his younger self, and while he is traveling, he is the observer. I was on the phone yesterday for an hour with James Cameron discussing a lot of this same stuff. There are theories in quantum physics, such as SchrŲdingerís Cat, which dictate that all observable matter behaves differently when observedóby the very act of being observed. So if, for instance, you were not seeing an event, there are questions as to whether the event occurred yet since it was not observed. It goes back to If a tree falls in the woods did it make a sound if no one was there to hear it? So thereís a theory that two things can happen simultaneously until the observer witnesses it. Wolverineís future consciousness exists in the past, so until he wakes up in the future, the future doesnít set itself, it remains the way it was. Because he is the observer, the moment he sees the new future, the future takes hold. When the future and the past coexist, thatís called the super-position. So when Wolverine wakes up, he ultimately collapses the super-position. Thatís the quantum physics terminology for whatís happening in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

NICK I think that makes sense. My smaller brain understands whatís going on there. There is kind of a liquid state with all the time-traveling until itís certain which time he is going to be in fully. In the future, will time travel become possible, or is it physically impossible?

BRYAN In our lifetime, no. In the distant, distant future, I think before time travel weíll have time perception. I think at some point humans, as their brains advance and as they commingle with technology, will begin to start perceiving time differently. Perhaps the first stage will be suspended animation, you know, going to sleep for long periods of time and waking up 100 or 500 years from now. In order to discuss time travel, you really have to tap into the concept of multiverses and Einsteinís special and general theories of relativity, which articulate, among other things, that the closer you are to a gravitational force, the slower time moves relative to individuals existing far from a gravitational force. In other words, if youíre way out in space, away from our sun, time will move faster for you than if you were resting on Earth, near our sun. Thatís people on Earth aging faster relative to someone travelling in space at great speed. But thatís not time travel, thatís time relativity. The harder thing to grasp is the idea of what gravity is. Everyone thinks gravity is like magnets, but no, gravity is an impression, itís mass making an impression in space and time.

NICK Youíre very up on technology and science in general, so would you say thatís what you believe in more than any religion or philosophy?

BRYAN I think so, generally speaking. But I leave myself open to things spiritual, because I believe there are so many things unknown. It is a miracle that we exist, that we have intelligence. It is such a miracle that we have Jupiter in our orbit to absorb all of the asteroids that could have destroyed the Earth, that we had just the right amount of carbon, just the right amount of heat, just the right amount of volcanoes and water. Itís a miracle that we have our consciousness and we can make art and music.

NICK I remember in The Short History of Everything, the Bill Bryson book, he wrote down the chances of all the molecules lining up as they did and the number went on for pages. It wasnít even a number that one could contemplate. So it is a miracle in that sense.

BRYAN Itís great to have someone like Bryson explain things in laymanís terms so we can digest it. Christianity used to only be preached in Latin, so packs of people didnít even know what was being said. Did you have a religious upbringing?

NICK [I was raised] Christian, and I was even a choirboy for a couple years. Iíve never felt particularly religious though. I just try to be good. The sad thing is that a lot of the time, when you look at whatís wrong with the world, itís people who believe their own religion so vehemently that they think everyone elseís god is wrong. It causes a lot of conflict, unfortunately.

BRYAN Yeah, the concept of us versus them instead of just ďus.Ē

NICK Iím not saying anything against religion, it can be wonderful for many people and provide support when you need that spiritual element to pick you up in times of trouble.

BRYAN Well, hereís the thing: in [next yearís] sequel, Apocalypse, one thing I want to deal with is the notion of religion and the notion of what would happen if a mutant was born 2,000 years ago? In ancient times, what would a person think of a mutant, what would the mutant think of themselves? Would that mutant be called a god? Would it think itís a god? And would it be right to think so, in the context of that culture and that world? Those are some of the aspects Iím playing with in the sequel. When we get to lunch, Iíll gladly pitch to you, weíll talk through it. But in an alternate universe where you arenít an actor, what do you think you would want to do for a living?

NICK Itís difficult to say, because Iíve been involved in acting since I was so young that I havenít ever really thought about doing anything else. The great thing about acting is that when you are prepping for a film like Days of Future Past you learn so much about science and time travel and all these things, and if Iím going off to play an ancient warrior, I learn about that historical time and how to use their weapons and what it was like to live like them. I learn a lot through that process, so thatís why itís such a great job for me.

BRYAN What are you feeling when youíre portraying a specific role? How do you embody another person?

NICK Itís tricky, because thereís no set approach to it with me. Iíve never really been taught a certain method or found one that I could stick with. Itís about being as prepared as possible, but also being flexible when you show up and someone says to do something different or says, ďThatís not working, stand over there and do this and try that.Ē There can be times that youíre so involved in the character that you are completely in that zone and the cameras and everyone around you donít exist and itís just you and the other character youíre in the scene with. Thatís a really great feeling. Even if the audience watching canít see a difference between that take and a take where youíre distracted or something went wrong, it feels different. But sometimes itís purely logistics.

BRYAN The best advice Iíve gotten is to get myself a hobby. I havenít been able to find one that I have taken seriously yet, but do you have one? Like, I know, for instance, Michael Fassbinder [who plays the young Magneto] has a fascination with sports and with racing and itís a true interest. Is there something that takes you completely away?

NICK One thing I really like is to get on a motorbike. Itís something that you have to be very focused on and it clears your mind. It feels very free. When youíre on the bike, no one is around telling you what to do, and thatís something about an actorís life that you have a lot of, you know, you have to be at this place at this time and so on. So thereís kind of a freedom that goes along with being on a bike. I used to play a lot of racquetball, but now just whatever sport is around. I like to stay active and the rest of the time, pretty much, is just heavy, heavy drinking.

BRYAN I just had an epiphany. Two other actors Iíve worked with, Tom Cruise and Hugh Laurie, are both motorcyclists, and I just realized itís not a coincidence: Tom always said that when heís on a motorcycle he wears a helmet, and a helmet hides your face, so itís one of the rare times he can just tool around without security or protection in complete anonymity. So, on [the topic of] personal stuff, you and Jennifer Lawrence met on X-Men First
Class, correct?

NICK Yes, during our screen test.

BRYAN Then you guys got together, then broke up, and now youíre together again. How has that been, working with someone that youíre seeing romantically?

NICK Itís fun because in this business you are away from one another for long periods of time, so when youíre on set together itís a brilliant thing, because you actually get to spend time together. Especially with this film, I got to spend time with her, but also the rest of the cast who Iíve worked with, on the previous film, so it was kind of like going back to school after the break and seeing all your old mates again. Which is a great thing. It doesnít really affect the acting though.

BRYAN Over a very short period of time sheís become quite famous with the Academy Awards and The Hunger Games and everything. Has that been interesting? Has she changed since attaining this particular level of fame?

NICK The privacy thing obviously changes, but the rest pretty much stays the same. You can probably relate better, with you winning your first Oscar at 24 years of age.

BRYAN No, it was with The Usual Suspects and I was 27 or 28, but I was a filmmaker, behind the scenes, and there isnít the same attention projected onto you as when youíre a star. What I learned was that no one ever feels like theyíre established. It humanized the industry for me, meeting with established actors and directors through that.

NICK Itís like that thing whereby you donít believe your own hype. Enjoy the good times, but donít get swept away with it. And I think thatís something sheís capable of doing, and thatís what makes her special, but yeah, it is very odd, and I am just kind of a bystander in many ways. It is well-deserved for her. I havenít really seen any change in her.

BRYAN I asked James McAvoy something and Iíll ask you too. You know he can be very emotional, and in X-Men: Days of Future Past he has very emotional moments. So one night we were out at dinner and I asked him, ďWhat do you think of when youíre crying?Ē The layman always assumes that youíre calling up some tragedy in your past or some very, very sad thought. But he said it was mostly, 99 percent of the time, that the character is sad and he allows himself to be sad for the character. When you do an emotional scene, are you calling upon something from your personal life or do you live it through that character?

NICK Itís living through the character, but drawing from your own experience. The only time I can think back to doing that at the moment is, I remember shooting a scene in an episode of Skins, where my character was a jerk. He messed up and he was very lonely and upset with himself and it was kind of one of those things where in my head I had to think of a time when I felt similar, but at the same time I was thinking as the character in that world, in that position. So itís kind of a mix of both.

BRYAN I wish I had that talent to access the moment. When I try to say lines, itís a total disaster. My first short film starred Ethan Hawke and Iíve never forgotten something he told me. He said, ďActors equal production value,Ē meaning you can blow up a bridge or a Death Star or a city, but nothing beats a close-up of the right actor in the right scene living that moment through. Itís just mesmerizing. Thatís why we always look toward the most skilled actors to play these larger-than-life characters. What do you think of these comic-book movies now?

NICK I think the reason people relate to them is that they tell the story of the outsider. With X-Men, Xavier and Charles have both approached the same problem and itís interesting to see how each of them deals with it. The genre deals with morality and how to go from being an outsider to becoming part of something, and that is something everyone can relate to. Obviously theyíre also popular because theyíre entertaining and thereís a hero. The other day I was watching a video on YouTube of a dad putting on a batman mask and becoming his alter-ego, Batdad, around the house. And it was hilarious. People love a way to express themselves, and itís a way for anyone to become a hero, even if they donít have superpowers.

BRYAN With comic-book films, X-Men in particular, there is an identification with the desire to embrace your normal self but at the same time celebrate your special self. Itís a mixture of who you are to some people, who you are to yourself, and then who you aspire to be. Your job also has three facets to it. Youíre Nicholas Hoult the person, Nicholas Hoult the actor, and now Nicholas Hoult the celebrity. How much do you worry about the way people perceive the character youíre playing versus the way people perceive celebrity Nick Hoult?

NICK Well, to be clear, the most important is the personal life and then the acting. The celebrity life sort of takes care of itself, I donít really worry about it. I suppose it would be stupid to say itís irrelevant, because thatís sort of part of what being an actor is, but thereís also that part of me that doesnít want anyone to know anything about my personal life, because then they wonít be thinking about the characters, theyíll be thinking, Oh, thatís him, I know this or that about his life. Itís the same with everybody I guess, you donít want to take your job home. You want to do your best job and be proud of your work, but you want a life outside of it. The film side of things can tend to be pretty all-consuming, particularly when youíre working for 12 hours a day with the same people, hanging out with them for months on end nonstop. It goes back to what I said earlier. You need your own life experiences to base the character on when youíre acting, so you do need time away from film sets and the film world. I do anyway.

Question to anybody that has bought the Empire X-Men: DOFP issue, When you turn to "Page 6" is it a panorama of the full banner consisting of 25 characters? You know like how it says in the cover "Turn to Page 6 for full picture"

"It was a headache" , recognizes the director of blockbuster. was pregnant Halle Berry, Ian McKellen was The Hobbit, Peter Dinklage Game of Thrones, Hugh Jackman had to leave 15 days for the promotion of Wolverine ... "

The event of the day in Hollywood, this is the launch of the new trailer for X-Men Days of Future Past . Luckily, the mutants will cover the next issue of First -in kiosks next week and Bryan Singer gave a long interview to the magazine. Pending its release, here's the long answer to the first question posed by Mathieu Carratier:

The genesis of the film had to be pretty special because you had to make sure the presence of the actors before they can even write the script ...

We already knew that we would have the "young" cast because they are under contract for several films. After that, there were two absolutely essential people: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen . Once their agreement obtained, we could actually start the project. I wanted it to be Hugh (Jackman) who travels in the past because it was the only one to play his character both times because Wolverine does not age.

The shoot reminded me of the Usual Suspects . Hugh was shot with the old cast and Hugh with youth. On Usual Suspects, I started by turning the whole part of the interview with Dan Hedaya , Chazz Palminteri , Giancarlo Esposito , before I address the flashbacks. Only Kevin Spacey remained, suddenly, and said goodbye to the players before the suspects - Gabriel Byrne , Benicio Del Toro ... - do not join the board. A strangely similar experience with how it turned Days of Future Past . Hugh was immediately excited when I told him about the concept, beyond the fact that we were excited to work together again. He agreed immediately, as the rest of the players.

The main concern was to provide schedules of everyone in the end. My first assistant, who has yet worked on huge movies like Avatar , had never experienced such a headache. Usually, you have up to three players who have "restrictions" as they say. Here we had seven ... Halle Berry , who was pregnant, was only available for a limited duration hyper, Patrick and Ian played a theater in London, Ian was also The Hobbit , Evan Peters , who plays Quicksilver was in parallel with American Horror Story , Peter Dinklage on Game Of Thrones ... It was also free Jennifer Lawrence at a time so that it turns the next Hunger Games . Besides Hugh, who has been absent for two weeks in the middle of filming for the promotion of Wolverine . He had constantly juggle the demands of each.

In X-Men - Days of Future Past, Bryan Singer cast mixes the old star who installed the saga and the young mad dogs who took over the franchise. Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy (Xavier) return this << Xperience >> unpublished.

IAN McKELLEN: When I discovered X-Men - First Class (Matthew Vaughn, 2011), I immediately thought that my story was finished with mutants. Michael (Fassbender) is perfect. He has the look, he's funny, threatening, in constant control. I thought they would not need a grumpy old man like me. As they say in the theater: << Rideau! >> (in french). Hence my extreme surprise when they called me. Why I said out? How to refuse to rework with Bryan, a man so delicious? And then it was just a month of filming in Montreal, a city I did not know which one told me the greater good. It would have been stupid to refuse.PATRICK STEWART: Unable to say no! I know that Bryan thought that it would be difficult to gather the elders- especially Ian and me - but he underestimated our attachment to the saga. Those who have played in the three first films have a strong relationship with this franchise. An extraordinarily cohesive group is created and for actors who also work at the theatre, this idea of troops is very important. That said, the phone call from Bryan surprised me. As all comedians first sections, I thought X-Men was now ancient history to me.JAMES McAVOY: We had no choice because we signed several films. (Laughs.) When Simon (Kinberg, screenwriter) talked about this idea of ​​crossing generations, it was rock bottom. It put extra pressure because to meet the one who created your character is rather tetanising. But Patrick has been very open and generous. I never felt that we were in competition and that I had << stolen >> Xavier.PATRICK STEWART: It does not make sense. Xavier is not for me no more that it belongs to James. He is a wonderful actor and he proposed an interpretation rather radical and totally different from Professor X. Less sweet, more instinctive. Our characters were built separately; there was no consultation, imitation or copying. I invented a Xavier and James imagined him in its own way.MIC HAEL FASSBENDER: Same for Ian and me. From the beginning, Matthew, director of First Class, we took the decision not only imagine a young Erik version, but to start from scratch. It has enabled me to keep my focus. For Days of Future Past, I studied Ianís performance- especially his voice. This film was a meeting point.IAN McKELLEN: A meeting point? Hmmm... For the characters, perhaps. For Patrick and James, no doubt. I was also a bit jealous because I would have liked to meet the young Erik. But I imagine that if there is already << a couple >> who crosses, they won't have fun to write the same thing for all the characters. I've met Michael at ComicCon, and it was very brief. It was quite good fun, but unlikely! It is on this occasion that I understood that he is a true showman. But talking about passing the baton seems a bit excessive to me.PATRICK STEWART: It's different for James and me because it is the only mutant in First Class to have a scene in the future. Moreover, Bryan had foreseen since, in the planning, this scene was the last of the old X-Men and the first of the new generation. It is a very short, very intense sequence, an exchange between the two Xaviers. I play against James, that I know well, and a character that I am also beginning to master. (Laughs.) But I've never said that that I was playing against myself or << me >> but more young. It was a pretty classic moment finally, as when I'm in front of aliens or of other mutants. I was just talking to a familiar character that I had to convince my greater experience. As it comes at a particular moment in the film, during the crisis, it gives the scene a certain gravity.JAMES McAVOY: I felt like playing against a mirror, except that in the mirror, it was another actor who appeared. I was very excited, people on the set were listening, Bryan was extremely concentrated. It was really a great moment. We can say that it is not much, we frequently play strange scenes, but in terms of mythology, this is insane! This is actually one of the most important film sequences or the saga. I somewhat regret not having more rubbed shoulders with the veterans.IAN McKELLEN: I would have loved to spend time with Michael or James, but honestly, it would have been hard to follow. Can you imagine us, Patrick and I boxed every night behind the new generation? It would have looked ridiculous and I'm not sure we could have kept pace they have imposed. At the moment, with Patrick, we play Waiting for Godot on Broadway. It's quiet and it suits us perfectly. It seems they were very fit to Montreal. Very fitÖ

Quote:

All claws out
Hugh Jackman played Wolverine for the seventh time. True hero of Days of Future Past, the actor gave his impressions on the set.

<< I immediately knew that it would be great when Bryan told me about the film. I had the impression that a loop is completed comprehensive technology. Secretly, I said to myself: ' Oh no, it's not going to start over! I am fed up with the draconian regime that I have to follow. (Laughs.) But Bryan is more than a friend, I owe him everything. X-Men was my first American movie and that is how I learned my craft. I am here today with that and I'm sure that Days of Future Past will break everything. This is the best script of the saga; the technological ambition is crazy and scenes of action too. And don't bother to tell you that the cast is unbeatable... For Wolverine, this film is important because it begins at a time where the character has really evolved. He is orderly compared with the first X-Men and has learned a lot about himself and others. There, he returned to a time where it was not so... civilized. (Laughs.) Suddenly, his relationship with Charles is exciting: in the first movies, Logan is a rebel; a type angry than Professor X soothes and makes grow. With the young Charles, the roles are almost reversed Will I be there for the future? I know that I cannot play Wolverine all my life. At one point, I will be forced to pass the baton. I love the character, but for him as for me, it must evolve. >>

Fourteen years after launching the saga of X-Men, Bryan Singer took over the reins of the franchise, brings a monstrous cast and rewritten history. Interview with a filmmaker who's past, present and future of superhero movie in the palm of hands.

PREMI»RE: The genesis of the film had to be pretty special because you had to make sure the presence of the actors before they can even write the script ...BRYAN SINGER: We already knew that we would have << young actors >> because they are under contract for several films. Afterwards, two people remained absolutely essential to convince, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen . Once their agreement obtained, we could actually start the project. I wanted it to be Hugh (Jackman) who travels in the past because it was the only one to play his character both times because Wolverine does not age. During the shooting, I much thought about the filming of Usual Suspects. At the time, I started by turning the whole part of the interview with Dan Hedaya , Chazz Palminteri and Giancarlo Esposito, before I address the flashback . So, only Kevin Spacey remained and took leave of these actors before the suspects - Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro ... - do not join the board. A bit like Days of Future Past, where we filmed Hugh with the << old cast >> and Hugh with the young. He was immediately excited when I told him about the concept.

All actors have responded immediately?
All! The main concern was to provide schedules of everyone. My first assistant, who has yet worked on huge movies like Avatar, never had to deal with such a headache. Usually, only three players maximum have << restrictions >>, as they say. This time, we had seven. Halle Berry, who was pregnant, could only make herself available for a very short period; Patrick and Ian played a part in London and Ian was also on the Hobbit; Evan Peters was in TV series American Horror Story and Peter Dinklage Game of Thrones... It was also necessary to release Jennifer Lawrence so she could go after the Hunger Games, not to mention Hugh, who has had to leave for two weeks in the middle of shooting to ensure the promotion of The Wolverine (by James Mangold). So it took constantly juggle the demands of each.

One has the impression that this film the colossal budget comes as a reward for the efforts you have provided the first X-Men, the cost seems ridiculous today ($ 75 million) ... I saw something like this, yes. The other award was for rotation with young actors. I produced X-Men Ė First Class, I was also the author of the script and I was actively involved in the casting of the film. I had worked with Nicholas Hoult in Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) and I knew Jennifer Lawrence through their relationship, but I had not yet worked with Michael Fassbender or with James McAvoy. I have not been disappointed and I think everyone had the same feeling as me.

Everyone? Hugh Jackman looked a little disappointed to regain strength for this movie as he was leaving from Wolverine...
I know. There a discipline of hell in these cases. There was a time where Hugh was sometimes coming to dinner with us during the shootings, but it's over. The regime that it must follow to play Wolverine is hyper strict: he trains and eats a meal every two hours, his last of the day taking place at 6 pm. He made one exception during the filming of Days of Future Past when Jim Gianopoulos (president of Fox) visited us. We three went to the restaurant and Hugh watched us eat (Laughs.) He spent the meal to contemplate what you ordered, saying: << Oh, that's very good, that. >> I suggested politely to taste, but it was a duty to refuse every time. Once I ordered a martini, he dropped a : << Oh, I love Martinis ... >> It has almost become annoying after a while!

You almost make First Class but Warner, with whom you were under contract, you had chosen to direct Jack the giant Slayer What is does it find the saga after all these years and this missed?
I like living my own version of Days of Future Past, to have the opportunity to revisit the past and be able to correct things I would do differently, while paying tribute to the work of those who succeeded me. I respect X-Men: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, 2006) and both Wolverine (conducted by Gavin Hood and James Mangold in 2009 and 2013), I have not tried to hide in designing this new episode. And if I have the chance to work today with Ellen Page, who is a wonderful actress, thanks to The Last Stand. I am delighted to have inherited this inspired casting choice. Reconnecting with this saga, I really realized how much I feel at home in this universe, much more than I was Superman.

It is thus for this reason youíve already started working on the next X-Men while this is yet to be completed or you are just a little masochistic?
I wanted to start Apocalypse without delay in order to have enough time to develop the project. If the output of Days of Future Past had waited before making a decision, we would have lost valuable months pre-production. The studio people were sufficiently excited by what they had seen of Days... to give the green light to the next... so I jumped at the chance. But yes, I must still be a little masochistic since I also accepted to the pilot of a new series produced by the creators of Dr. House and Breaking Bad, I have to turn these days while Days... will be not yet finished and we prepare actively the next.

Much is said about the Titanic budget of Days of Future Past. Where will all this money, specifically? In the decorations? In the special effects?
It is given to the actors. (Laughs.) Wages are particularly high on this film - including mine, by the way - and the budget for special effects is effect therefore without be disproportionate. We tried to turn up in natural settings, which has a price but seemed essential, especially for the sequences in 1973. If I had to describe, would say that 30% of the money went to the cast, 30% to special effects and the rest in the filming. Some days, it was still nearly 800 to work on board. It makes a number of mouths to feed.

At the same time, it's your fault if Hugh Jackman has become as expensive.
I know! That said, this money could not go to a nicer type. I have rarely seen an actor to give as much as Hugh on a platter. He deserves it.

How was the mix between the old and the new generation?
There is a scene in which the old and the young Charles Xavier << connect >>, where Patrick Stewart tries to inject a little wisdom to James McAvoy. It was really fun to attend this clash of generations. Nicholas Hoult and Jennifer Lawrence, for example, grew up with the first X-Men, and even if they played in the prequel, it was the first time they found themselves in the << true>> sets of these films that they discovered being kids. I still remember Jennifer coming to ask me discretely between two shots << Bryan, you can show me Cerebro? >> (laughs.) The actors are also told to wear clothes from the 70s, who go particularly well to Hugh. It was also decided to cut mounting a valve that was very funny but which did not fully correspond to the tone of the film. Before being sent in the past, Wolverine said: << the good news, is that my sideburns will be fashionable. >>

For many people, Days of Future Past is the most anticipated event of the American summer. Is this revenge on all those who doubted you at the time of the first X-Men?
I think sometimes back to the reactions of the fans of the comic when the first pictures were unveiled. I was murder every day on Internet: << But what he did to my comic book ? What can these costumes? And that stupid casting? >> What bothers me this time, it is the constant comparisons made between Days of Future Past and Avengers. While the two films have nothing in common. Avengers was the combination of several huge success together in order to build a megahit - well, it was mostly Iron Man and the others - whereas Days ... just brings the characters of the same saga with different ages. I can assure you that my mother, who look at my feature films only because the name of his son is in the credits, would be unable to tell you who is Magneto , when she heard of Iron Man and knows perfectly what Hulk looks like. The X-Men have always been the underdogs, I often describe as illegitimate children of the world of comics. Condemn Days of Future Past to achieve a comparable Avengers card is not reasonable, even though I am very confident about our chances of success at the box office.

We can talk about Apocalypse?
Say that this film will probably be in the 80s and will be again very different from the previous ones. Apocalypse promises to be a pretty unique opponent and destroy a lot of things in its path. Those who find that Days of Future Past is not enough explosive can be reassured: we'll do it all in the next.

Worries me that he calls Apocalypse "its" rather than "his" path at the end of this interview, but I am still holding out hope, since Singer has previously hinted that he will stick with Apocalypse's Egyptian origin. Plus that might just be lost in translation.

Two time periods. Six countries. More than a dozen stars. Hundreds of killer robots. It’s not hard to see why 20th Century Fox’s $200 million-plus X-Men: Days of Future Past is the priciest and most complicated X-Men film to date. “I think this is the biggest movie Fox has made that James Cameron didn’t direct,” says producer-writer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class). Adds producer Lauren Schuler Donner, who’s worked on every X-Men film, “We have to deliver, and that’s really hard. Plus, we don’t use guns, we use powers. The power is a visual effect. So by its very nature, it’s going to be pricey.”

Adapted from a fan-favorite 1980 comic storyline by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Past unites the original cast of the X-Men franchise (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, etc.) with the stars of 2011′s prequel First Class (Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult). With the X-Men hunted in the distant future by mutant-killing robots called the Sentinels, Wolverine (Jackman) is sent back in time to his 1973 body to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the inventor of the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask (Game of Thrones‘ Peter Dinklage). Keeping Trask alive prevents a devastating war between mutants and humans — and keeps Mystique among the do-gooding mutants. As Kinberg explains, “A lot of people have an emotional investment in her not going to the dark side.” Speaking of dark sides, Wolverine must also unite frenemies Erik (Fassbender), who’s been (wrongly?) imprisoned for the JFK assassination, and Charles (McAvoy), now a drugged recluse living with Hank, a.k.a. blue-furred Beast (Hoult).

The hope is that this all-star cast, beloved storyline, and returning director Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two X-Men films, will bring even more eyes into the theater. “The hope is that Days of Future Past will broaden the audience for X-Men such that it will motivate potential spin-offs even more,” Kinberg says. The challenge is that legions of non-comic fans are less familiar with the powerful mutants. “Everyone grew up knowing Captain America or the Hulk, but not X-Men characters—I didn’t even know who Wolverine was,” Singer says. “I call X-Men the bastard stepchild of the comic universes.”

About that article in EW... I've never ever thought of X-Men as the 'Bastard Child', maybe with adults but still I thought they were huge in the 90's, in both Comics and Television. Then again, last year I remember having to explain to a friend that Superman and Batman were not in the same universe as Spidey and the X-Men before The Avengers started... it was painful.

About that article in EW... I've never ever thought of X-Men as the 'Bastard Child', maybe with adults but still I thought they were huge in the 90's, in both Comics and Television. Then again, last year I remember having to explain to a friend that Superman and Batman were not in the same universe as Spidey and the X-Men before The Avengers started... it was painful.

with GA X-Men Is bastard stepchild. The one who has huge cult following among comic fans. Think trekkers pre2009 only larger.

X_Men helped get the genre to where it is now but have been dismissed by GA for SPider-man and Avengers on One side and Batman and Superman on the other side.

with GA X-Men Is bastard stepchild. The one who has huge cult following among comic fans. Think trekkers pre2009 only larger.

X_Men helped get the genre to where it is now but have been dismissed by GA for SPider-man and Avengers on One side and Batman and Superman on the other side.

Although I'm sure you're completely right, its so strange to me because here in the UK everyone I knew as a child knew of the X-MEN, Wolverine Spider-Man, Superman and Batman. I knew of the Avengers maybe individually but not as a group. I'm not even sure what the line up for the Avengers was when I was a child in the 90s'. But thats my own experience and ignorance haha.